Justine Howard

Karen McInnes

Providing an overarching concept of play, drawing together the evidence-base across disciplines and linking theory to practice, this is the ideal handbook for all those working with children. It provides a baseline of shared knowledge for all play professionals, exploring the fundamental value of play rather than a 'how to' approach to practice.

A Practice Companion for Professionals Working with Children and Young People

The Essence of Play

A unique companion to professional play practice! All play professionals are united in their belief that play is important for children’s development – and there are inherent characteristics of play that underpin professional play practice across contexts. Providing an overarching concept of play, drawing together the evidence base across disciplines and linking theory to practice, The Essence of Play is the ideal handbook for all those working with children. Play acts as a natural resource for children to meet physical, intellectual and emotional challenges and this book, unusually, considers play from the perspectives of children rather than adults. It provides a baseline of shared knowledge for all play professionals, exploring the fundamental value of play rather than a ‘how to’ approach to practice. It considers: the therapeutic potential inherent in play; how play reflects and promotes physical, emotional, intellectual, linguistic and social abilities; the emergence of different types of play skills and why these are important; cross-cultural patterns in play, gender, atypicality and adversity, highlighting the relevance of these issues to professional play practice; the benefits of utilising play for assessment and other professional practice issues such as ethical play practice, balancing risk with health and safety and the creation and management of boundaries. This text is designed for students and practitioners working with children across the helping professions, including early years education, play therapy, playwork, childcare, social care, nursing and allied health. Each chapter provides directed reading and small reflective tasks to encourage readers to digest key issues.

Jill Williams

Operating on two levels, this book aims to help students and practitioners understand how to plan and use time effectively within the foundation stage setting. The book examines how children learn and play at different times of day, how they fiction when they might be tired or hungry and how best to organize the learning day with this in mind. The authors discuss the issue of environment, how children relate to different areas within their own room, and what happens when routines of time and place are altered. The book also discusses how to develop children's understanding of time and how to incorporate the theme of time into children's play. The book includes: practical activities and examples that will allow children to fully comprehend the concept of time advice on how to create time for children to learn through play, inquiry and investigation sections on how time can be used to include parents, colleagues and the local community. This book provides in-depth analysis of how effective use of time can be beneficial for parents, children and staff in early years setting.

Karen McInnes

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